World Cup 2019 squad to be decided after Australia ODI series, says Arthur

Head coach Mickey Arthur said that Pakistan’s squad for the 2019 World Cup will be finalised after judging the players’ performance in this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the five-match ODI series against Australia, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The 2019 edition of the PSL kicks off on February 14 in Dubai. The Men in Green are scheduled to play 10 ODIs before the World Cup — five against Australia and five against England.

Arthur said he and chief selector Inzamamul Haq are thinking of a 19-player squad and would want to have two strategies for the conditions in England during the summer.

“Inzi and I have been on the same page for a long while here and I’m going to be honest because I told the boys in the dressing room the same thing the other night. I think we’ve got probably 19 players for 15 positions. PSL always throws up one or two good individual performers, so we are going to have a look at some of our borderline players, the guys that we are not sure about,” he said.

“We have to look at them during the Australian series and then we will make our minds up leading into England, obviously we will be taking 15 there. The key is players get clarity in terms of their roles and role clarity is particularly important,” Arthur said in a media briefing Lahore after returning from South Africa.

He went on to say that it is important to have two strategies. “I’m saying two game plans because the weather in England at any given time is very unpredictable, so we need an option where we have our spinners who are able to suffocate through the middle [overs] because the key for us to win one-day games is about taking wickets through that middle period,” he said. The head coach explained that they will either do that with two spinners or little bit of reverse-swing if the weather stays dry, or if the weather is wet they have an option of a seam-bowling all-rounder who can come in and bat at No 7.

“So we’re very close, we’ve covered all our bases in terms of our personnel at the moment.”